Feel the Love! An Inside Look Into Fashion Friendships at the FLAs

Everyone was feeling the love at the second annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards on Sunday, where besties gushed over their longtime friendships and gave a rare, intimate glimpse into the lives of these designers, stylists, models, editors, and influencers. Below are a few of our favorite excerpts from the touching speeches. Awww!

“I remember the first day he called me and he said, ‘OK I have something to tell you! I think I want to be a fashion designer.’ I was like, ‘Yes, we all know this, we knew this day was coming, we’ve been waiting for this, I’m so glad you’ve come to the party.’ And it’s such a testament to his personality that he wouldn’t be able to perceive what other people see in him. But we’ve all been waiting for him to make a collection and he’s just so worried that I would feel unloved in some way. I remember you saying that to me that you wanted me to feel that your focus was on my career and supporting me. The best thing you’ve ever done for our friendship is support yourself and follow you dreams.” —Lady Gaga to Brandon Maxwell

“I was really young and a girl walked through the door and she said Hi, and she gave me a hug, and she let me brush her hair, and she let me put clothes on her and help her with makeup. And when I went through a breakup she would fly across the country in the middle of the night, when I was having a hard time she would talk to my parents on the phone, when I hated everything about my life she came to me every day and told me I was good enough, when I wanted to make a dress for my first time with my own two hands she wore it and acted like it was the most beautiful thing she’d every worn in her whole life.” —Brandon Maxwell to Lady Gaga

“One of the things that always strikes me is my mother, who is here, and I’m so thankful for her, because she came here with $20. She flew to America with $20 and one of the first things she wanted to do was buy a banana and some chocolate. She worked three jobs and put my brothers and I through college, boarding schools, bought us our first cars, she even put my father through college. And the thing that she taught me was to work hard.” —Stylist Jeanne Yang to her mother

“I get to present my oldest friend with an award. And when I say oldest, I mean oldest. I was a fetus and she was a little toddler. From meeting her as a fetus to standing here today, let’s just say we’ve shared a lot together. We went to the same schools, we traveled to the same holiday destination, and the reality is that we were forced to be friends because her dad was my mom’s agent. A total LA story.” —Kate Hudson on Jennifer Meyer

She’s there in the good times but it really counts because she’s there in every time, every hard time, every scary time. She’s there for advice, she’s there for love, she’s there to make you laugh.” —Jennifer Meyer to Kate Hudson

Alber Ebaz, Eva Chow

“I always say if I was ever pregnant again I would want to have a daughter just like Eva! If you really want to know Eva, you just have to go with her to a small Korean restaurant at a small little table and order a lot of food and then you’ll talk about life and then she will make you dream and she will make you think, and she will tell you the truth, and only the truth.” —Alber Elbaz on Eva Chow

“The best awards in my life I have are my friends. Alber came all the way from Paris to give me the award.” —Eva Chow on Alber Elbaz

“I know that technically tonight we are celebrating CR Fashion Book for this past year, but it wouldn’t be what it is without Carine’s unwavering respect for quality throughout her career. You can tell how Carine operates even by the way she packed only a carry-on for 10 days of NYFW. That is virtually unheard of ever, let alone in fashion. She packed her signature pieces as a base. But each season she’ll obsess over one or two pieces and introduces them to the fashion world as a CR staple. This season that new piece in her carryon was a white Vuitton coat.” —Gigi Hadid on Carine Roitfeld

And how about a Nicole Richie and JLo friendship in the making? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.“I was J.Lo once for Halloween. I put on a Juicy jumpsuit and I got a toothbrush and I pasted down my baby hairs, I put on high-heeled timberlands and it was a wrap!” —Nicole Richie

Photography: Getty Images, BFA.com

Thank you to sponsors Maybelline New York, Cadillac, Moroccanoil, and Revolve.

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